![]() Fires scorch, blades clank off armour and slice hides, wood splinters under wrecking balls. The sound effects, however, are all satisfyingly physical. Every section of the game seems to have its own music, though some more variety for the game’s various moods would have been a welcome addition. Interestingly, the dramatic music is mostly composed of horns, while the lighter music is more percussive and uses more recognisably eastern instruments. The music in Hammerfight, as mentioned, serves as a constant reminder of the setting and sets the tone of chapters with its various passages of tense drama or elated sheikh shuffling. Get used to it, you’ll be seeing a lot of it in Hammerfight. The red light means your ship is in critical condition (usually acompanied by your ship billowing smoke). The health metre on the other hand could be clearer, but the gauge works satisfactorily. They can make combat more fluid, but the mouse alone is functional, if slightly less convenient. There is the option to bind keys to commands for various functions, such as using ranged weapons or limited use items like poisons or healing gems and so on. The interface is fairly self contained with a scrolling wheel to allow selection and angles of weapons (which will affect aerodynamics). The idea is a strong one however, and the innovation of the concept shines through beneath some of the flaws of the implementation. The controls have a very steep learning curve, which does not mix well with the fragile nature of your craft.Ĭombat definitely does become more rewarding with practice as combat strategies become clear, but there will still be moments of wild disorganised spinning every now and then. This could arguably have more to do with the physics engine and its somewhat unique use aerial melee is something of a non genre, even amongst indie games. There will be times that you will be unable to properly manoeuvre your weapon due to everything being tied to momentum, which will lead to frustration when you are inevitably blown out of the sky. The use of the mouse as (virtually) the sole controller of your flying machine is an innovative idea which leads to a dynamic style of play, both fun and for the most part intuitive, but intuitive in a very imprecise way. All in the Wrist - Controls & Interface (4 out of 5) ![]() Thematically, the game is tied together very neatly, from the set piece architecture, such as gigantic wooden wheels, dank caves and duels outside palatial courts, to the music, which is culturally evocative and helps to promote the (fictional) Middle Eastern flavour. The setting is executed well, with a distinct blend of a pseudo historical style and ‘steampunk’ contraptions. While the story seems to take a back seat to the actual gameplay itself, story choices affect which path you take, and therefore which levels you experience and which items you have access to, allowing for much replay value. Surprisingly, the story is quite well fleshed out, with there being plenty of dialogue between characters as well as page after page of background between some missions, though this can become overwhelming. The game takes place in an age of turmoil amongst the ruling houses of an Arabian-esque empire with our noble flying hero caught between the political unrest of the times. The entire crux of the game is weaving through the air, spinning and hopefully bashing something with a big heavy weapon. Most weapons handle as you would expect, and the weight of your ship will affect how well you battle as well as overall mobility, because in Hammerfight, the two are inextricably linked. All the movement revolves around the physics engine which has a somewhat authentic and weighty feel, though sometimes veers into exaggeration. ![]() Se driven, which will lead to much arm flailing and possible repetitive stress injury. Hammerfight is an unforgiving game, about as unforgiving as you would expect piloting a flying vehicle with heavy weights dangling from it would be.The controls are mou According to Hammerfight anyway, the game that poses the oft asked question “What if you could combine humanities’ two greatest inventions together?” In this case, the two greatest inventions would be the flying machine and a club. Physics games and the indie games scene go hand in hand, like rickety steam powered helicopters with giant hammers hanging from them.
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